The holiday season is upon us, and the San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts as always will be a busy and enjoyable place to visit.

This Saturday the Junior League will present its Mistletoe Magic 2013 program. There will be two sessions: one from 9:30 a.m. to noon and a second from 1-3:30 p.m.

It will be a magical program filled with arts and crafts, games, food, stories with Mrs. Claus and photos with Santa Claus himself. There will be plenty to keep the kids busy and a silent auction at each session for the adults to do some Christmas shopping.

This is a fundraiser to support the wonderful programs that benefit children in our community supported by the Junior League of San Angelo. Admission is $12 per person, and children 1 year old and younger get in free.

The museum will host its monthly Family Day program from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Dec. 14 and will be open free all day with lots of activities and fun things for children and their families to do.

On that same day at the museum's Coop Gallery on Oakes Street, directly in front of the museum, we will have a Christmas Xchange Show that also will be free. There will be hot cocoa, a dollhouse display, an electric toy train set, free family portraits, art activities and a community decoration display. Children and adults also can create holiday picture frames and ornaments.

At 9 a.m. Dec. 16, we will celebrate the dedication of the museum's new solar-powered covered parking area. There will be a brief ceremony, music and refreshments to greet this wonderful new initiative, which will help make our energy use at the museum more environmentally-friendly and serve as a model for the community. Everyone is invited to join us for this significant event.

On Dec. 19 the museum will stay open until 8 p.m. during the monthly Art Thursday. We also will have free mulled wine and hot cocoa and a special viewing of the movie "A Charlie Brown Christmas" at the Coop Gallery. The dollhouses, electric train and other holiday exhibits will continue to be on display, and there will be an opportunity for you to create your own ugly Christmas sweater.

A perfect opportunity to take a break from the mad holiday rush will occur at the museum at 7 p.m. Dec. 21. The museum will jointly sponsor a "Winter's Eve" party with the San Angelo Cultural Affairs Council. This fundraiser will help support both organizations, and the cost is $75 per person. It will be a special evening featuring fine dining and wonderful dance music by stylist Kevin Ahart and his combo.

The galleries, which currently feature the stunning glass sculpture of Jayne Durea and beautiful oil and watercolor paintings by Marco Sassone, will be up through the season. The museum is a great place to bring out-of-town guests this time of year, as well as shop for unique gifts that cannot be found anywhere else.

For more information, call 325-653-3333 or visit samfa.org. We wish you a fabulous holiday season!

Taylor is director of the San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts. Contact him at director@samfa.org or 325-653-3333.